After "disappointing" season, Taylor has new outlook on 2017

After so much time spent wondering who the Nationals would acquire this winter to become their new center fielder in 2017, it's easy to forget the organization thought it knew the answer to that question a year ago.

The Nationals had a promising, young center fielder with all kinds of skills. And had Michael A. Taylor put those skills together the way many hoped, this month's trade for Adam Eaton might never have been necessary.

Alas, 2016 was not kind to Taylor, who despite ample opportunities to play cratered during a miserable season that now leaves him on the outside looking in.

Perhaps the team's biggest standout performer in spring training, Taylor wound up hitting .231 with a .278 on-base percentage, .654 OPS, seven homers, 16 RBIs and 77 strikeouts in only 237 plate appearances.

"Personally, it was a pretty disappointing season," Taylor said last weekend at Nats Winterfest. "I came in, things I wanted to work on, I felt like I had a good spring training, and it got lost somewhere after that. But it's part of the process. I'm here and I've got another season coming up, so I'm looking forward to that."

Taylor, like everyone else, has tried to pinpoint why exactly he struggled so much. Some of it has to do with the mechanics of his swing, which can have too many "all-or-nothing" aspects at times. Some of it also has to do with his mental approach, which the 25-year-old admits was a bigger problem.

"My mindset and mental approach at the plate, I think, somewhat changed after the spring," he said. "Maybe put too much pressure on myself to control the results, rather than just going out there and putting together good at-bats. These are things I talk about all the time, but as the season gets going, you want to have a good year and put up good numbers and help your team win ballgames and things like that. But I think my focus needs to be a little smaller than that."

Taylor was supposed to open the season as the Nationals' fourth outfielder, but he was pressed into everyday duties in center field when Ben Revere strained an oblique muscle on opening day. He proceeded to go hitless in his first 12 at-bats, then spent the majority of the season trying to dig himself out of that hole. He didn't crack the Mendoza line for good until June 7.

"When I was going through it, I'm looking up there, and (my batting average is) .180 or .189 or whatever," he said. "And I'm like, "I want to get three hits today." And you can't go up there thinking that."

The lowest point of all came June 22 at Dodger Stadium, when Taylor went 0-for-5, striking out in each of his at-bats. And that isn't even what he's best remembered for doing in that game. Taylor also booted a routine single to center field in the bottom of the ninth, his three-base error giving the Dodgers a walk-off victory and the Nationals their worst loss of the year.

Taylor, who remained in the big leagues another month before getting demoted to Triple-A Syracuse for five weeks, insists that disastrous game had a positive effect on him in the end.

"Honestly, I think that day in L.A. actually made it better for me," he said. "Because after that, I mean, it maybe didn't get much better, but I was like, 'This is rock bottom. It can't get much worse than this.' It took a little pressure off me. And having the team rally behind me definitely helped a lot, because every day you're thinking about the guys around you, too, when you're going through it."

Taylor's role in 2017 remains to be seen. For now, he's at best looking at a spot on the bench, joining veteran Chris Heisey as the Nationals' two backup outfielders. Wherever he ends up, he's determined to take a different approach to his game next season: Forget about the big picture.

"Just take one at-bat at a time," he said. "Have a good at-bat. Battle with two strikes. Put the ball in play. Things like that. And I think at the end of the day, I'll have the results that I want."